Embodiments disclosed herein relate to payment systems. In particular, some embodiments relate to methods, apparatus, systems, means and computer program products for remotely issuing proximity payment devices. More particularly, some embodiments relate to remotely issuing and loading proximity payment devices from unattended devices, such as kiosks.
Proximity payment devices (otherwise referred to herein as contactless payment cards or devices), such as the PayPass® payment device issued pursuant to standards developed by MasterCard International Incorporated, are becoming more widely used. PayPass® proximity payment devices (as well as a number of other proximity payment device schemes) follow standards, such as ISO standards and the EMV standards (available at www.emvco.com). The EMV standards set forth a security infrastructure in which payment device issuers create secure keys that are used to uniquely identify payment devices issued by them.
Proximity payment devices are well-suited for a number of different payment applications. One such application is in the area of prepaid devices which may be used for transit or other low-dollar transactions. Many such prepaid applications and environments require that consumers be able to purchase (or fund) prepaid devices at unattended locations. For example, in the transit environment, it would be desirable to allow customers to purchase prepaid proximity transit cards at transit stations (e.g., such as in a subway or train station). It would further be desirable to allow customers to purchase prepaid proximity payment devices at unattended (yet secure) kiosks or terminals.